Council, library discuss future

Tuesday

Jul 30, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Entities met for meeting on future, services and possibility of community center

The Kirksville City Council and members of the Adair County Public Library Board entertained discussions and dreams Monday of a possible community center located to the north of the library as a future expansion goal as the library makes plans to celebrate its building’s 25th year in use and embark on a strategic planning initiative next year.

The long-discussed community center is purely speculation, although the library does own the property just to the north of its location that extends to Mill Street and the Kirksville Aquatic Center, noted Library Director Glenda Hunt.

“This is just talk,” she said, “and would need to be tied to a capital campaign of some sort.”

While there are no plans in place for a specific community center or accompanying capital fundraising campaign, the library is set to embark on a round of strategic planning next year to examine its own operations, now and for the future.

“We don’t know where that goes,” Hunt said.

It could lead to an examination of how the library checks out books or where it focuses its resources, like in expanding its current e-book selection or e-readers.

But despite the push for more electronic offerings, the library is reporting steady circulation, with a 1 percent decrease resulting in 237,424 books checked out in 2012.

Included within that figure is about 7,200 e-books that were also checked out in 2012, Hunt said, highlighting the library’s e-readers that are available for checkout and the new partnership with online magazine company Zinio that provides digital subscriptions for library patrons to 26 various publications.

“People really seem to like the e-books and magazine access,” Hunt said. “We live in a busy world and people want convenience.”

Council members inquired about local usage of computers, access efforts elsewhere in Adair County and how they can help explore the possibility of a community center for use by service clubs, organizations and more.

“There is a need,” noted City Manager Mari Macomber. “It’s just about where to put it.”

ACPL Board member Matt Heeren said while a community center could be utilized for so much more than just library space, “anything that makes the library a destination place is good, even if it doesn’t have to do with books.”